Safety pin corrosive inhibitor



Fgb. 17, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 18, 1955 FIG..- 2

RUDOLPH H. LINIGER INVENTOR 1959 R. H. LINIGER SAFETY PIN CORROSIVEINHIBITOR Filed July 18, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet FIG-3 RUDOLPH H. Lmgg ll fUnited States Patentfl 2,873,901 SAFETY PIN 'CORROSIVE INHIBITOR RudolphH. Linigcr, Seattle, Wash.

Application July 18, 1955, Serial- No. 522,413

3 Claims. or. 223-109 This present invention relates to the general artof pin cushions and more particularly to a pin cushion having a block ofsponge-like material, such as sponge rubber, which is impregnated nearits center with preferably a paste-like corrosive inhibitor. The spongeblockis'then covered with pervious cloth on all six sides so that pinscan be easily passed through it. Attached to the covering is a safetypin orv similar securing device so that the pin. cushion can be easilyattached in a hanging positiontoa child's bathinette or crib. V

The handling of and use of. safety pins in connectionwith securinginfants diapers in place is very appreciablycomplicated by the fact thatmine, particularly, has avery corrosive: effect. upon the safety pinstructure and most especially, the pointed end of the pin that must berepeatedlyv passed. through the rather substantial, material from whichinfants diapers are made. Persons attending infants with resultingnecessity for frequent changes of diapers have been. confronted. with:this problem for a longtime. a

The diaper material itself. is normallya. relatively heavy, closelywoven. material. with considerable nap and it. is almost invariably therule that the diapers are folded so that the pin normally is passedvthrough not less: than two thicknesses of the diaper. and in most cases,four thicknesses, dependingsomewhat on. the manner in .which'the diapersare folded. It is very desirable that the pins be capable of passingthrough thematerials without stoppage or arresting. of the. movement tothe end that it. will not be necessary to apply excess pressure ininserting the pin which might easily cause slippage and injury to theinfant by being pricked with the pin.

The ordinary safety pin in normal use by the average mother will usuallybe found to be actually contaminated in the tip area, and this meansthat even minor punctures or scratches eifected on the infants skin mayand, in many cases, have resulted in very serious infections. In thispresent invention means are provided for de-contamination of the safetypin in its normal storage period, or even the relatively short periodswhen the pins are taken from a diaper and before they are replaced in aclean diaper.

This present invention contemplates that the pins will be stuck into theco-rosive inhibitor treated area of the'pin cushion-proper so thatcorrosion itself will be inhibited. Each passage of the pin into thezone interiorily of the pin cushion will, in effect, be a cleaningaction as well as an inhibiting action. It is, therefore, believed thata very worthwhile device has been provided which will verysatisfactorily overcome many of the deficiencies in the techniqueformerly employed in the handling of safety pins for the fastening ofinfants diapers and other garments.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a handy,convenient to use pin cushion proportioned and particularly arranged toaccept the pointed pin portions of safety pins and treat the point andadjacent portion of the pin with a corrosive inhibitor.

A further object of this present invention is to provide 2,873,901Patented Feb. 17, 195? 'ice a safety pin receiving pador cushionarranged so that the W pin passes through an area of untreated resilientmaterial and then enters a treated area. When the pin is withdrawn theexcess of the inhibitor is wiped off the pin as it passes through theuntreated area of the pad so that it is ready for'use in a cleancondition.

A further object of this present invention is to provide a safety pincorrosion inhibiting pad or cushion which provides a sanitary treatmentfor the endsof safety pins and straight pins having the same generalpinlength, that is factory sealed and will give long periods ofsatisfactory service but cannot be re-treated, thus, guarding againstcomplex chemical reaction and contamination.

Further objects,.advantages and. capabilities will be ap-- parent fromthe description and disclosure in the drawings, or may be comprehendedor are inherent in the device.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view illustrating a preferredem-bodiment ofthis present invention, and illustrating the manner in which pins areinserted in the same;

Figure 2 illustrates a recommended manner of using this presentinvention; A

Figure 3 is an elevation of a pin'cushion illustrating, how theinhibiting agent is placed in the interior zone of. the unit;

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken. along theline- 4-4 of Figure3; i 1

Figure-5 isa perspective view showing apoi tion of the. cloth coveringcut away and turnedback and illustrating theopening into the interiorportion. of the pad, suchas is employed during the impregnation of. thedevice.

Referring more particularly tothe disclosure in the drawings, thenumeral 10 designates; a block of pervious resilient material suitableas a receptacle for pins and the like. Quite a variety of materialswould be suitable, the felted materials, particularly-those of plasticbase,.have

been used for similar uses, however, theideal material. ap-

pears to be either sponge rubber or the plastic sponge-mar terials.These materials are provided with alarge num- -ber of interstices whichcan befilled witha suitable corrosive-inhib'itor and do not tendto weepor penetrate to the outside of the-block where itwould causediscoloration ofi the; preferably, fabric coveringll- In a preferredarrangement it has been found expeditions to slit the block, as at 14,from one side only, and to then spread the slit portions apart, afterthe showing of Figures 3 and 5. Suitable corrosion inhibitives,particularly of a creamy or paste-like consistency are available on themarket for cleaning and polishing table silverware. With the averagesponge-like block, this type of material seems preferable to a liquidwhich tends to soak throughout the sponge and to soil and come outthrough the cloth covering. A cloth covering entirely around the blockis more preferable to an imprevious covering in part, in that the pinscan be stuck in from any side.

Various means have been employed to impregnate the sponge block with thecorrosion inhibitive such as injecting the material through a hollowneedle or tube, but a preferred arrangement follows the showing ofFigures 3, 4 and 5 wherein the paste-like material is introduced into anopening 14 formed by slitting the block 10 with a knife entering fromonly one of the six faces of block 10. After the inhibitor is fullypositioned, the two sides or walls of opening 14 are cemented togetheras by cement, indicated in Figure 3 at 16 and 18. This seals the blockso that the inhibitor is fully enclosed and yet does not interfere withthe passage of the pin point, as 20, through even the cemented joint.

After the inhibitor has been in this sponge for a reaa large volumeinside the sponge block so that the safety pin or the straight pin, ifdesired, as 22, may be introduced from any of the six faces of the blocktoward the center of the block and the point 20 will be fully engaged inthe inhibitor and also will have the mechanical cleaning of the point asit goes into the block and then when the pin is to be used, thewithdrawal of the pin wipes off the bulk of the excess within theimpregnated area with the final cleaning occurring in the un-impregnatedarea, which is shown in the conventional sectioning in Figure 4, as at24.

Many forms of corrosion inhibitives may be used, probably the mostsatisfactory is the general class of cleaning compounds such as are usedin cleaning silverware. These are normally a combination of cleaning andinhibitive agents. A suitable inhibitor can be provided by consideringthe type of corrosion existent. This is normally a metal compound whichhas been created by association with uric acid from the urine and thiscan be best counteracted by some of the milder alkalies. A paste made ofwater and ordinary baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) serves veryeffectively to neutralize the acid and if the device is readilyavailable so that the pins can be inserted in it before the uric acidhas had an opportunity to coact with the metal, then a full inhibitingis achieved. It is further desirable that a mild vegetable oil soap suchas castile soap be employed which can be mixed with the concentratedsoda solution so that a paste results. A mixture of this kind serveswell to both neutralize the acid and to clean the point of the pins andneither ingredient, normally, enters into chemical reaction with eachother or the water involved and in case the infant happens to be prickedwith the point of the pin, there is no danger of infection or rash asmight be true if stronger alkalies or detergents were used. A finelydivided neutral abrasive, such as pumice, may be used as a furtheradmixture to assist in the mechanical cleaning of the point of the Amanner of using this device is believed to be quite well illustrated inFigures 1 and 2. It has been found convenient to employ a safety pin, as26, which is secured as by a stitched-on tab 28, to the cloth covering12 of the block so that the same may be easily attached as to the clothcovering of the bathinette indicated in Figure 1 at 30, or the safetypin may be used to secure the block to a childs crib or even to theclothing of the infant's attendant. The pins, as 22, should be then leftopen as they 4 are removed from the diaper and stuck into the block,preferably in a radial manner, after the showing of Figure 4, so thatthe extreme points 20 of the pins are directed into the area of greatestconcentration which should be preferably in the center of the spongeblock. It therefore follows that the overall size of the sponge block 10should be such that, for the type of pins used, the block would be of asize to permit the pin reaching the center but preferably not past thecenter, as that is the point of greatest concentration, and the cleaningof the pin in removing the same will be best affected if only theextreme point is in the area of greatest concentration of the inhibitor.I

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the abovedescription and the disclosure in the drawings that the inventioncomprehends a novel construction of a safety pin corrosive inhibitor.

Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim:

1. A diaper pin holder, comprising: a block of sponge material; achamber in the approximate center of said block and a paste, chemicalcorrosive inhibitor disposed in said chamber.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 in which the chemical inhibitor is apaste consisting of sodium bicarbonate, a mild vegetable oil soap, aneutral finely divided abrasive and water.

3. The subject matter of claim 1 in which said block has a fabriccovering; means secured to said fabric covering adapted to hold anopened safety pin with its hinge portion uppermost near the top of saidsponge block and with its point outwardly and downwardly extending.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS443,739 Atkinson Dec. 30, 1890 830,087 Loomis Sept. 4, 1906 920,968Lewis May 11, 1909 1,921,034 La Marche Aug. 8, 1933 1,927,842 McDermott'Sept. 26, 1933 2,058,340 Miller Oct. 20, 1936 2,328,832 Mock Sept. 7,1943 2,515,551 Cohen July 18, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 94,668 SwitzerlandMay 16, 1922

